Disability care center manager pursues healthcare goals with healthcare administration certificate

Toheeb Adebola, GCMM’22, has always been interested in business. It’s healthcare that’s become his new passion.

“My background is in accounting. It’s what I studied in college because I was fascinated by financial statements. I worked as a marketing specialist out of college and moved from Cyprus to the United States,” said Toheeb. “Eventually, my interests changed, and I wanted to get into the healthcare field. I realized I didn’t want to do patient care, but my interest was in management and leadership—making sure staff and any issues are addressed. I wanted to learn more about the business of healthcare management and how to improve patient outcomes, support clinicians, and lead strategy in the healthcare industry.”

Toheeb began working as a shift manager at Damar Services, a care center for children and adults with developmental, intellectual, and behavioral challenges. He wanted to learn more about the administration of healthcare. Toheeb enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Medical Management at the Kelley School of Business as a step towards earning an MBA. Often referred to as a “mini-MBA,” the healthcare administration program offers a graduate certificate that can be completed in 12 months.

“I chose the Kelley School because they’re a reputable school with excellent professors who can share real-life situations in our classes,” Toheeb said. “I wanted to learn not only from a book, but from real experiences, which is absolutely what I’ve been getting in my studies. Our professors share actual examples of business challenges they faced in their careers and how they’ve been able to move from one phase of their careers to another.”

Though he already has a passion for management and leadership, Toheeb says through the healthcare administration certificate, he gained a greater sense of how to implement changes to improve his employees’ experience and how to improve patient outcomes.

“In my strategy innovation class, we learned how to improve the performance of a particular business unit,” Toheeb said. “Healthcare is a business. The program helped me think about how we can make better decisions to run a more effective and efficient healthcare organization.”

A former Army reservist, Toheeb says he also gained a greater sense about how to lead in a healthcare setting—how to understand employee frustrations and how to implement improvements for staff. This inspired Toheeb to take on a project to improve compensation benefits for his own employees. During a course called Value Creation and Financial Performance in Healthcare Systems, he was able to review financials from his employer to identify opportunities for improving the employee experience.

“We are open 24/7 year-round, and we are looking for ways to increase employee morale. I analyzed financial statements from my organization to monitor profits and determine how we might be able to increase employee compensation benefits. It’s going to be an additional cost, but it’s something we can afford,” Toheeb said. “I broke down my analysis into a proposal, which is currently under review by management.”

The Graduate Certificate in Medical Management is offered 100% online, so Toheeb can continue working at Damar, building his experience in healthcare while attending class biweekly, and growing his business knowledge.

“The program is more fun because you’re not taking classes every day,” Toheeb said. “You have space in between to think about the lessons and take care of personal and professional demands in your life. It’s very balanced.”